Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 52 - 43: My Youth Fading in the Firelight
Sunny day, July 24, 2017
"Uh, I’m back again."
Lu Xinyu was standing under the scorching sun, weakly patting the door of the Zao Hong Sect, carrying a large and heavy package in his hand.
Wang Jiu opened the door: "Hello, who are you looking for?"
"..." Lu Xinyu raised his head, "Brother Wang, this is my fourth visit here, why do you still act like it’s our first meeting? Who else could I be looking for besides you?!"
Wang Jiu said, "There are many possibilities. Besides me, Shen Garden is also home to Shen Qingming, the gate-watching Tree Spirit, and various insects and birds. Considering your lolicon background, there’s even a possibility of you scheming against Shen Qingming. I’m here to confirm, you’re not here to peep at her bathing or steal her underwear this time, are you? If you are, I’ll have to sanction you based on my duty as guardian and master."
"...I’m just here to see you," Lu Xinyu said weakly. "Same as usual, helping my sister deliver something."
"What’s it this time?" Wang Jiu asked.
"Who knows? She’s been going crazy at home these past few days, putting her mark on all sorts of stuff, and then packing them up for me to deliver to you... I know it’s annoying, but please, Brother Wang, accept it as it’s her sincere gift."
"Okay."
——
"When will Li Chaolu stop acting like a nutcase!"
A moment later, Shen Qingming’s angry voice echoed in Shen Garden.
Wang Jiu looked quizzically at the open package and the angry Shen Qingming, unable to fathom the reason behind such anger.
This time, aside from the usual memorabilia Li Chaolu sent to Wang Jiu, she also sent two brand new teen girl outfits to Shen Qingming, perfectly customized to ease any tension — the style and material were top-notch, naturally pricey, yet unexpectedly received Qingming’s ire.
After some thought, Wang Jiu said, "Considering your past unpleasantness with Li Chaolu, can I interpret your current anger as a kind of coy embarrassment?"
"Embarrassment my face!" Shen Qingming protested. "Don’t you see? This is blatant harassment and provocation! Look at those two dresses, the hems, the lining... they’re all marked with her disgusting personal imprint! If I wear them out, it’s like I’m her collared pet!"
"If you don’t like them, just throw them away."
"Are you kidding me!? These dresses are so gorgeous, you want me to throw them away?"
"Then just remove her personal imprint and wear them."
"What’s the point of such self-deceiving trick... forget it, I’ll return them." Shen Qingming said helplessly, slouching her shoulders. "It’s so frustrating, that big thigh really has good taste, these two dress styles are really great, and they’re all custom-made from the Hundred Flowers Square, you can’t buy them elsewhere."
In spite of everything, Shen Qingming reluctantly held the dresses against her chest for a moment, then frowned, blush spreading over her face.
"That wretch! She actually bought the underwear a size larger on purpose!"
——
No matter how upset Shen Qingming got, Li Chaolu continued to leave her mark bit by bit on Shen Garden.
Though the gifts to Shen Qingming can be returned, Shen Qingming had no standing to make decisions for Wang Jiu on the gifts from Li Chaolu.
Li Chaolu was truly enamored with Wang Jiu, the clothes, accessories, books, household items she sent catered to his tastes, always welcomed with a smile from Wang Jiu. Within days, his room was filled with Chaolu’s gifts; according to Shen Qingming, if this continued, Shen Garden would soon be renamed to Chaolu Garden.
Yet, Li Chaolu’s gifting art was indeed superb, leaving Shen Qingming to reluctantly acknowledge that her gifts were always spot-on.
"Sigh, I wonder how Lu Xin dealt with this tactic back then, but considering the outcome... Wang Jiu probably won’t fall for it, right?"
Thinking of this, the girl couldn’t help but feel nervous, yet completely helpless.
——
That day, the sun was blistering again.
Weak knocks sounded at the door of Shen Garden.
Upon opening the door, there lay Lu Xinyu squatting like a dead dog at the entrance, one hand holding the package, the other wiping sweat — a sight quite noteworthy for a Cultivator of Cloud Surge Realm.
Wang Jiu, as usual, received the package, thanked them, and was about to turn away when Li Xinyu spoke up, "Brother Wang, there’s something I’d like to ask you a favor for."
"Hmm?"
Li Xinyu, feeling slightly embarrassed, said, "Could we discuss this in more detail inside?"
Before Wang Jiu could respond, Shen Qingming’s voice rang out from within Shen Garden, "Absolutely not! Don’t let that fat ass come in and pollute the environment!"
Li Xinyu first enjoyed the feminine voice of Shen Qingming with a look of intoxication, then awkwardly said to Wang Jiu, "I know of a tea house with exceptionally authentic tea."
——
A moment later, the two of them were seated in a tea house in a small alley on the east side of the city. The tea room was filled with a calming fragrance and elegance, a rare place of refinement.
After taking a seat, Li Xinyu smiled and explained, "Every time my dad is lectured by my mom at home, he comes here to heal his mental wounds. Although it’s not a high-end tea house in a bustling area, it’s a rare good place, mainly because of its privacy. When my dad hides here, even my mom can’t find him..."
While speaking, Li Xinyu skillfully ordered the tea and then got straight to the point, "I want to ask Brother Wang to help me cover up a lie. Here’s the thing, these past few days, I’ve been helping my sister deliver goods every day. Each time I return, she asks me how you reacted to the gifts, and then... if I tell her the truth, that aside from thank you, there was no other reaction, she criticizes me for not knowing how to give gifts, saying it’s a waste of her effort, leading to an entire day without a good face. So I had no choice but to fabricate some facts."
Speaking of this, Li Xinyu took a sip of tea and said a bit nervously, "I told her that while delivering the gift, I emphasized how she selected it with great care and poured true feelings into it. And after my explanation, you were very touched upon receiving the gift, growing more and more fond of her each day, and increasingly annoyed with the domineering and incompetent Shen Qingming, to the point where you would soon leave Shen Garden..."
As he continued, Li Xinyu’s guilt grew, fearing that this honored guest elder of the family might throw the scalding tea in his face.
Fortunately, Wang Jiu seemed completely indifferent to this, only observing the teacup in front of him with an interest, lost in thoughts.
Li Xinyu then mustered the courage to continue, "Up until yesterday, everything was fine. Chaolu finally smiled at me for once, and even let me sit next to her during afternoon tea. But in the evening she asked, if you liked her gift so much, why hadn’t you even sent a reply? She began to suspect I was deceiving her. So, Brother Wang, I wonder if you could... send her a letter back, just to thank her for the gifts over this period. Of course, if you could invite her to discuss Tao over tea, that’d be even better. I know a few tea houses suitable for romantic meet-ups." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞
Upon saying this, Li Xinyu suddenly became alert, "Of course, just tea and discussion! If you dare make any inappropriate moves on her, even if I have to be shattered to pieces, I’ll drag you down with me!"
Wang Jiu earnestly explained, "Technically, that’s not possible. Back in the day, even the Great Demon God Emperor couldn’t drag me down with him to death."
"...I’m just being serious about expressing my stance. Of course, I know I can’t outmatch you, this family honored guest elder who can debate with my uncle through letters. Chaolu likes you, and as her brother, I naturally support it, but she is merely a thirteen-year-old child—though a bit precocious physically. But at the end of the day, she’s just a child! Some things are still too early for her! The Dongxu Zixuan, ’Golden Scales Aren’t Miniscule’, and ’The River’s Many Charms’ that I gave you are absolutely not for you to use on Chaolu!"
"Qingming took all those books and burned them."
Li Xinyu’s eyes widened in shock, "What!? Burned! Those were collector’s editions!"
"Yes, when they burned, they emitted a pink seductive glow, along with the moaning sounds of women. Such detailed techniques, even in the Jiuzhou Era, no one had witnessed."
"...I didn’t even know about those audio-visual effects, but I really have no desire to learn about them either," Li Xinyu said, crestfallen, "Please take good care of those ashes for me, it was my youth after all."
"No problem."
Li Xinyu downed several pots of tea to steady his mood before saying, "Speaking of which, I’m really grateful to you... in these past years, everyone at the Li Family Mansion, even throughout the entire Cyan Cloud City, avoids me like dog poop. Some despise me for being fat, others mock me for using drugs to boost my cultivation. Of course, more don’t understand my sincere pursuit of the Yin Yang Harmony. Only you, Brother Wang, are willing to have a conversation with me on equal terms, and for that, I am truly grateful. In the future, should you need anything, I’m willing to go through fire and water for you!"
——
A little over half an hour later, Li Xinyu happily returned home with a letter written by Wang Jiu. With this handwritten letter, his relationship with his sister Li Chaolu would surely make big strides!
Meanwhile, Wang Jiu returned to Shen Garden with a whole pack of expensive medicinal tea and a box full of scattered spirit stones.
Seeing what Wang Jiu was carrying, Shen Qingming was taken aback, "Where did those come from?"
"Li Xinyu gave them to me as thanks for helping him."
Shen Qingming opened the box and package, did the math, and was even more shocked, "This, these add up to at least three to five thousand spirit stones. Where did he get so much money!?"
Wang Jiu said, "He said it was his father Li Kongcheng’s secret stash in the tea house’s little treasury, which he secretly took out to give me. He said that if his dad finds out later, he’d shift the blame onto his mom. Given Li Kongcheng’s character, he absolutely wouldn’t dare question Zhao Yan."
"...That fat ass is indeed cunning! But he is really generous to you, giving away thousands of spirit stones just like that."
Wang Jiu explained, "He said, compared to improving the relationship with his sister, material things like spirit stones are insignificant."
"He really dotes on that big leg," Shen Qingming sighed, "Having a family’s care... that’s truly enviable."
Wang Jiu said, "Envious? You have family care too. Just a few days ago, Li Fengyun and Lu Xin mentioned your cultivation issue in their letters, saying that if family support is needed, you should feel free to ask."
"I don’t need their hypocritical concern. If they really cared, where were they a few years ago?" Shen Qingming, upon mentioning this, lost interest.
